Judge Orders Testimony in Perplexity AI Legal Case
A federal judge is weighing whether to disqualify Proskauer Rose LLP from defending Perplexity AI against former client Reddit.
Updated on Oct. 29, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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A New York federal judge has ordered live testimony from three attorneys to evaluate a potential conflict of interest involving Proskauer Rose LLP. The law firm is seeking to represent Perplexity AI in a data-scraping lawsuit filed by their former client, Reddit.
Why it matters
The court's decision centers on whether a firm can pivot to represent an AI company against a former client, a move that could set precedents for legal representation in ongoing intellectual property disputes between tech platforms and AI startups.
The court is evaluating the potential conflict of interest regarding 3 attorneys, including two from Proskauer Rose LLP and one from Reddit, to determine if the firm can maintain representation of Perplexity AI.
The players
Proskauer Rose LLP
A global law firm specializing in corporate litigation, intellectual property, and labor law.
Perplexity AI
An AI startup building an answer engine that provides real-time information via web search and LLMs.
A social news aggregation and discussion platform that produces a massive dataset of human-generated content.
The details
The federal judge ordered live testimony to investigate the relationship between Proskauer Rose LLP and their former client, Reddit. This evidentiary hearing aims to clarify if the firm possesses confidential knowledge that would compromise the integrity of their proposed defense for Perplexity AI in the current data-scraping lawsuit.
Timeline
October 28, 2026: The federal judge ordered three attorneys to provide live testimony.
The Tech Race
The conflict of interest proceedings follow a pattern set by the ongoing legal battle between Reddit and AI companies over data-scraping. This case marks a critical intersection where professional ethics and the aggressive defense of AI training datasets collide.
This hearing primarily affects the legal strategy and timeline for the pending litigation between Perplexity AI and Reddit. Legal practitioners and AI companies should watch the outcome to see if the court sets higher barriers for firm switching in intellectual property cases.
The takeaway
The court's requirement for live testimony underscores the complexity of managing institutional conflicts when law firms move between competing tech clients. Observers should track the upcoming testimony to see if it leads to the disqualification of the counsel, which would force a significant delay in the case.
Further reading
For broader trends in this field, see the latest updates on Artificial Intelligence.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Law360.
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